Peters Amplification is winding pickups now

[firejack]

James Peters is doing his own pickups. I got two of his bridge models to try.

Pickup #1
The double screw pole piece model is for my overly warm sounding Burny LP.
It's voicing is somewhere in the ballpark of a Duncan Distortion but with the things that bother me about the Duncan Distortion improved.
It has a Ceramic 8 magnet to keep things tight and focused, but hopefully won't be as scratchy or shrill as the Duncan Distortion.

Pickup #2
The all-slug pole piece model is for my bright sounding Charvel/Jackson mutt. This one is in the tonal ballpark of a Duncan JB, but again with the things that bother me about the JB improved.
The magnet in the pickup is Alnico 8 which supposedly has good punch and tight attack but also a somewhat more "filled out" sound and less spikey than the Ceramic 8 model.
The pole piece slugs vary in alloy composition: 6th and 5th string poles use a slug type of a certain alloy that sounds good for focus/tightness (not quite as much as the screws in pickup #1 but close);
4th and 3rd string poles use an alloy that sounds a bit rounder; 1st and 2nd string poles use an alloy which sounds about as round as 4th and 3rd string poles but also a bit more vintage/soft.
This means the lows should stay tight (and the pickup has warmth anyway), and as you progress across the fretboard to the higher strings the sound gets tailored for a bit more warmth.

Will post clips when they are installed in my guitars.

 

[rottingcorpse]

Now that's pretty freaking cool right there.

 

[Oblivion DC]

Can't wait to hear your thoughts, especially on the double pole piece pup.

 

[hstlaurent]

Oh yeah, looking forward to hear you demo man!

 

[firejack]

Cheers guys
Looking forward to trying these.

 

[FourT6and2]

James is sending me a bridge pickup to try out too. Might be a while before I can test it as I need to get more seat-time with my new guitars before I go swapping pickups. But should be cool to see what's up.

 

[hstlaurent]

You guys get all the good stuff.

 

[firejack]

James is sending me a bridge pickup to try out too. Might be a while before I can test it as I need to get more seat-time with my new guitars before I go swapping pickups. But should be cool to see what's up.

Sweet! Which model did you go with?

 

[FourT6and2]

James is sending me a bridge pickup to try out too. Might be a while before I can test it as I need to get more seat-time with my new guitars before I go swapping pickups. But should be cool to see what's up.

Sweet! Which model did you go with?

I dunno. James is sending me whatever he thinks I'll like I guess. I think it's ceramic.

 

[JamesPeters]

You guys get all the good stuff.

Well I haven't actually released the pickups officially yet, so that's more coincidence than anything. Locals who know me got the first dozen, and I gathered info/opinions from them.

It took me about a year to be comfortable enough with the designs, and my ability to adjust them in various aspects (as well as make them consistently), before I was ready to release them. They'll be on the website soon, along with a new 50W amp format.

I dunno. James is sending me whatever he thinks I'll like I guess. I think it's ceramic.

I've been going back and forth about that actually.

With A5 it'll sound focused still, since it can't really be compared to a "looser sounding" A5-based pickup. (The way I make them, including the winding pattern, makes it fairly different from lots of pickups with A5 magnets which would fall into that range.) Ceramic 8 would definitely keep the attack sharper, but also it would still have some chime on the higher strings and not sound grating (since it isn't quite like what you'd expect from lots of pickups with ceramic magnets, either).

You've used a lot of pickups with A5 magnets so my first thought was to use that. Lately you've been using a couple pickups with ceramic magnets and at first you were uncomfortable with them, but you started to like them. So I thought maybe C8 is the way to go.

What are your thoughts now? I haven't finished the pickup since I was waiting for new spacers (turns out the latest ones I got weren't quite 1/8" thick, so they were no good). Either way you can swap magnets later. I know you're a techie sort of guy so swapping a magnet (and re-flowing the wax a bit with a hair dryer) shouldn't be a challenge for you. I'd like to make it more what you'd prefer right off the bat though, if I can.

 

[psychodave]

I didn't know this was public info, but since James commented in the thread...

James made me a bridge and neck pickup to test out. So far, the "tone" is there. I'm still messing with magnets to really tweak them. Build quality is top notch, bobbin color is "correct" too.

On a side note, I really like James and have met him a few times. Has a passion for making top quality stuff! Plus, he's a nice guy

 

[Viper]

And he likes his tea.

 

[FourT6and2]

You guys get all the good stuff.

Well I haven't actually released the pickups officially yet, so that's more coincidence than anything. Locals who know me got the first dozen, and I gathered info/opinions from them.

It took me about a year to be comfortable enough with the designs, and my ability to adjust them in various aspects (as well as make them consistently), before I was ready to release them. They'll be on the website soon, along with a new 50W amp format.

I dunno. James is sending me whatever he thinks I'll like I guess. I think it's ceramic.

I've been going back and forth about that actually.

With A5 it'll sound focused still, since it can't really be compared to a "looser sounding" A5-based pickup. (The way I make them, including the winding pattern, makes it fairly different from lots of pickups with A5 magnets which would fall into that range.) Ceramic 8 would definitely keep the attack sharper, but also it would still have some chime on the higher strings and not sound grating (since it isn't quite like what you'd expect from lots of pickups with ceramic magnets, either).

You've used a lot of pickups with A5 magnets so my first thought was to use that. Lately you've been using a couple pickups with ceramic magnets and at first you were uncomfortable with them, but you started to like them. So I thought maybe C8 is the way to go.

What are your thoughts now? I haven't finished the pickup since I was waiting for new spacers (turns out the latest ones I got weren't quite 1/8" thick, so they were no good). Either way you can swap magnets later. I know you're a techie sort of guy so swapping a magnet (and re-flowing the wax a bit with a hair dryer) shouldn't be a challenge for you. I'd like to make it more what you'd prefer right off the bat though, if I can.

Let's try ceramic

 

[psychodave]

I'm moving in the opposite direction. The bridge came with ceramic magnet and the neck came with A2. I'm trying A2, A5, A8 in the bridge and A5 in the neck.

 

[FourT6and2]

I've really only used Alnico in the past: Holy Diver, Black Dog, Nailbomb, JB, T-tops, Tim Shaws. And one of the guitars I just got came with Duncan Nazgul/Sentient. The Nazgul is awesome. It's tight and mean but isn't harsh or overly compressed. Its not as clinical as the BKPs, but it still has clarity. And I have a Pegasus/Sentient waiting to get swapped into my other guitar which came with Distortion/Jazz. The Sentient is the best neck pickup I've tried. I keep reading that it's like a combo of all the best attributes of the Jazz/59.

One thing I do miss though, is the vowel-like characteristics of the JB. Some might call it "nasal." But it's a slight cocked-wah quality. But you can achieve that by rolling the tone knob back a bit with certain types of caps. But... these new guitars I have don't have tone knobs lol

 

[Rising Farce]

James Peters is doing his own pickups. I got two of his bridge models to try.

Pickup #1
The double screw pole piece model is for my overly warm sounding Burny LP.
It's voicing is somewhere in the ballpark of a Duncan Distortion but with the things that bother me about the Duncan Distortion improved.
It has a Ceramic 8 magnet to keep things tight and focused, but hopefully won't be as scratchy or shrill as the Duncan Distortion.

This sounds promising. I've been fruitlessly searching for a "de-screeched" Distortion for years now.

 

[JamesPeters]

Let's try ceramic

You got it! Will ship Monday...I'll email you.

And he likes his tea.

Currently drinking a cup...

I didn't know this was public info, but since James commented in the thread...

James made me a bridge and neck pickup to test out. So far, the "tone" is there. I'm still messing with magnets to really tweak them. Build quality is top notch, bobbin color is "correct" too.

On a side note, I really like James and have met him a few times. Has a passion for making top quality stuff! Plus, he's a nice guy

Thanks Dave! You're really nice too.

This sounds promising. I've been fruitlessly searching for a "de-screeched" Distortion for years now.

I'm currently using C8 magnets that are 1/8" thick, which is a more standard size and thinner than what the Distortion uses. The way I wind the pickups, it doesn't need larger magnets to sound aggressive and tight, plus it stays more articulate. They can hit the amp hard enough in the right ways without bludgeoning it. The comparison to a Distortion is a bit tricky; "on paper" I make pickups which are similar to JB and Distortion...but the differences are very significant.

 

[moltenmetalburn]

Motor city does combo pole pieces, nice way to further refine the tone.

 

[MrSticky]

Looking forward to these!

 

[skoora]

Makes a lot of sense an amp maker would also make pickups. I applaud this move.